By Ndivhuwo Mukwevho
Finally, after years of waiting and more waiting, dangerous and rundown pit toilets at Mabila Primary School in Vhembe, Limpopo have been demolished, paving the way for sanitation blocks to be built at the rural school.
For the past eight years, Mabila primary learners and teachers have waited for the provincial education department to demolish the pit toilets – posing many health risks to the lives of both learners and teachers at the school – with no luck.
But when Scrolla.Africa published a story about the suffering that learners and teachers at the school experienced daily in May this year, the education department promised that they would ensure the school receives new sanitation blocks before the end of this year.
Earlier this month, the department provided the school with six mobile toilets to be used by learners and teachers while waiting for the promised sanitation blocks to be built.
But despite steps being taken to ensure the new toilets, the school governing body (SGB) is not entirely pleased as they have been given false hope before.
SGB chairperson Rotshidzwa Maluga told Scrolla.Africa they will only celebrate when they see that the building process has been started and completed.
“The demolishing process means nothing to us as they might demolish and never come back to start with the actual building process. We can never actually trust the department of education as they have already sold false hope on several occasions,” said Maluga.
Mabila Primary is situated in the water-starved rural village of the same name outside Thohoyandou. The school has over 200 learners, and it is the only easily accessible primary school for learners from the village.
Eight years ago, building materials were delivered to Mabila Primary and learners, teachers and SGB hopes were raised that the school was going to have proper sanitation blocks soon. But that never took place. The building materials are still lying around in the school grounds.
“It is not the first time that we have been told that in the next few weeks or months, we are going to have proper toilets at the school but that never happened. Look, even with the provision of the mobile toilets, we waited for almost four years,” said Maluga.
“We are all in the dark on whether a contractor has been allocated to construct the sanitation blocks or not. We also do not know if they are going to deliver new building materials or if they are going to use the ones they delivered years ago.”
Speaking to Scrolla.Africa, Stephen Sirwali, whose nephew is in Grade 3, said they must wait and see but hope for the best.
“We do not know what will transpire in the next few weeks, but hopefully the department will this time adhere to their promises and build proper toilets for our children,” said Sirwali.
Attempts to get a comment from Mosebjane Kgaffe, head of communications for the Limpopo Education Department, on when the actual building process will take place, failed.
Pictured above: The demolished pit toilets.
Source: Supplied
